Machine for compacting trash in disposable cartons

ABSTRACT

A machine for compacting trash in a disposable carton mounted within a sleeve means in the lower portion of the machine casing. The casing can be opened to permit the sleeve means to be slid outwardly and the sleeve means can then be opened to permit the filled carton to be removed therefrom. The machine includes a vertically movable ram which compacts the trash within the carton and when the ram is lowered to its compacting position, a blocking means prevents further trash from being introduced so that no trash can fall on top of the ram.

United States Patent John A. Boyd Fairfax, Va.

July 24, 1968 Aug. 3 1, 1971 Compackager Corporation Washington, D.C.

[72] lnventor I 21 Appl. No. [22] Filed [45] Patented [73] Assignee [54] MACHINE FOR COMPACTING TRASH 1N 3,501,890 3/1970 Hunt 53/124 TS 3,511,019 5/1970 Neitzel 53/52 3,517,482 6/1970 Beningerun. 53/124 CC 192,235 6/1977 Craig 53/24 X 1,590,995 6/1926 Nelson 53/124 D 2,763,973 9/1956 Atkins 53/24 3,117,513 1/1964 Burnett 53/124 D 3,119,212 1/1964 Zytka 53/24 3,403,620 10/1968 Pioch 53/124 B 3,424,078 1/1969 Boyd 53/124 TS 3,438,321 4/1969 Gladwin 53/124 TS 3,455,234 7/1969 Foulke 53/124 TS Primary Examiner-Wayne A. Morse, Jr. Attorney-Shlesinger, Arkwright and Garvey ABSTRACT: A machine for compacting trash in a disposable carton mounted within a sleeve means in the lower portion of the machine casing. The casing can be opened to permit the sleeve means to he slid outwardly and the sleeve means can then be opened to permit the filled carton to be removed' therefrom. The machine includes a vertically movable ram which compacts the trash within the canton and when the ram is lowered to its compacting position, a blocking means prevents further trash from being introduced so that no trash can fall on top of the ram.

PATENTEU AUG31 m SHEET 1 BF 3 INVENTOR Jbl/N B0 0 ATTORNEYS PATENIED/mw 19m 3 501 953 sum 3 OF 3 INVENTOR Mv H. Baa 0 TTORNEY-5 MACllillNlE Wilt COMFACTHNG TRASH llN DlISPOSAElLlE CARTONS This invention relates to trash compacting systems, and more particularly it relates to a trash compacting machine which compresses the trash in disposable cartons, such as cardboard boxes, which can then be transported to a suitable site and burned or otherwise disposed of.

The present invention finds particular utility in buildings such as garden-type apartments, small office buildings, and so on which do not have either the space or the facilities required for an onsite incinerator. At the present time, most such apartments and other buildings simply empty their garbage, trash and refuse into garbage cans which must then be collected and emptied. Since the expenses in garbage collection is necessarily correlated with the number of collections which are made, it behooves the management of such buildings to spread the collection dates as far apart as possible, and as a result, for most such buildings, garbage is collected only every two or three days. This means, of course, that in order to accommodate the vast amount of trash and garbage between collections, a large number of garbage can type receptacles are needed and a large room is ordinarily provided where such receptacles are maintained. In use, the occupants of the building carry their garbage and trash to these cans or receptacles, and empty the same.

The disadvantages with the aforementioned system are readily apparent. First of all, there is the factor of noise which comes from the garbage cans being continually opened and closed as trash is introduced thereinto. Also, as the garbage collection men move the trash cans in and out of the building, there is a substantial amount of noise. There is also the problem of unpleasant odors which can readily escape and fill the garbage room, if the lids are not tightly placed on the garbage cans. Next, there is the problem of maintenance of the cans themselves, and more importantly, of the walls and doors which appear to be continually in need of repainting due to the fact that the garbage cans themselves are constantly being bumped against the painted walls. Finally, there is the problem of sanitation which arises because many tenants will fill a garbage can to overflowing, thus causing some of the garbage or trash to spill on the floor. Other tenants will inadvertently spill some trash or garbage while attempting to insert their packages into the garbage cans, and as a result, the cans may be surrounded with trash and other garbage and refuse which can attract rodents and insects.

Of course, the apparent solution to many of the aforementioned problems would be to simply install an incinerator for the garbage on the premises of the building, but, as aforementioned, in dealing with small buildings, it is often uneconomical and in most instances, physically impossible, to install an incinerator in a building which was not constructed to house the same. Another approach, more in line with the present invention, would be to use a trash compacting machine, but machines of this type which have heretofore been known are generally large, complicated and expensive pieces of equipment. Such machines cannot ordinarily be operated by any unskilled operator, such as the normal tenant in such a building, and such machines do not ordinarily package the trash in disposable cartons. Instead, known prior compacting machines have used large steel containers into which the trash is packed and the trash removal company must then come in and remove these large steel containers, ordinarily by means of some special truck.

in contrast with all of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the difficulties and deficiencies expressed hereinabove and to provide a unique and simple machine which can compact trash in disposable cartons.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a simple, small and relatively inexpensive machine for compacting trash, which machine can be installed in a minimum amount of space, as would ordinarily be available in any small building.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a machine which is extremely simple in operation and which can hence be operated by any unskilled person, and which, when so operated, will compact trash or like materials into disposable cartons, such as cardboard boxes, which can ultimately be collected.

Another object of the present invention is to eliminate the noise, odor, sanitation problems, expense, maintenance problems and collection problems heretofore encountered in placing trash in conventional garbage cans, and to provide instead, a simple machine into which the trash can be introduced so that when such machine is operated, the trash will be compacted into disposable cartons.

Another object of the'present invention is to alleviate the bulk problems encountered in collecting trash and garbage by compressing such materials tightly within a disposable carton which can then by readily transported to a distant site and burned,

Other objects, advantages and salient features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof.

Referring now to the drawings, which form a part of this original disclosure:

FIG. l is a perspective view of a machine in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 1, with the casing door of the machine being opened;

FIG. 3 is fragmentary sectional view of the interior of the machine;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the sleeve means employed within the machine; and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic sectional views showing the manner in which a filled carton can be removed from the machine and can be replaced by an empty carton,

The machine in accordance with the present invention is generally designated 20 and such machine includes a casing means generally designated 22 having a front access door 24 connected by a hinge 26 to one of the two opposed side panels 28 The casing means 22 also includes a top panel 30 and a back panel 32. The side panels 28 can be provided adjacent their upper end with louvers 3 -11 to permit airflow through the upper portion of the machine for cooling purposes, and releasable latches 36 can be connected between the casing door 24 and one of the sidewalls 28 so that the door can be latched closed, but can be selectively opened when the latches are released, as shown in FIG. 2.

The front door 24 of the casing means can include a panel 38 which gives instructions for operation of the machine Ml. An on-off electrical switch 40 is mounted within the casing door, preferably near the top thereof so that such switch is out of the reach of small children. Beneath the switch All), an opening i2 is provided through the door so that the machine operating handle 44- can project outwardly to be fully grasped by anyone desiring to operate the machine. An access door 46 is provided within the casing door, and such access door 46 includes an operating handle 48 and a pair of spring-loadedbottom hinges 50 which ordinarily keep the door in a closed position. By referring to FIG. 2, wherein the interior of the access door means do is shown, it can be seen that such door means includes along the projecting sides there-of, a pair of stop tabs 52 which limit the degree of outward swinging movement of the access door 46.

Within the machine 20, as shown in FIG. 2, there is a transversely extending wall or shelf 53 which divides the chamber within the casing into an upper compartment and a lower compartment. To describe first the contents of the upper compartment, it will be noted that the on-off switch 40, in the as ing door, is connected by an electrical line to a junction box 54 mounted inside the door. The junction box connects to a safety limit switch 56 also mounted inside the door and to a control box 58 mounted within the upper compartment of the casing. A flexible connection is provided between the junction box 54 and the control box 58 so that the casing door 24 can be swung openly to the position shown in FIG. 2. A hydraulic reservoir 60, in the form of a tank, is mounted upon the shelf 53 and is connected by a flow line to a four-way valve 62, also positioned above the shelf. Two additional lines from the fourway valve extend respectively between the top and the bottom of a cylinder 64 which operates the ram that will be described hereinafter. The other line from the four-way valve 62 connects to a pump-motor 66 which is electrically operated by connection to the control box 58. The operating handle 44 connects to the four-way valve 62 so that the pump, the reservoir and the valve are all connected in a hydraulic circuit. The operating handle 44 is ordinarily biased to a neutral position so that even when the electrical circuit is in an activated condition, the ram will not move until the handle 44 is positively actuated, through manual operation.

The ram itself is designated 70 and is shown in FIG. 3 as being positioned beneath the shelf 53. The ram 70, as is conventional, is connected to a piston rod 72 disposed within the cylinder 64. A piston, not shown, is carried by the rod 72 so that, depending upon whether the pressurized hydraulic fluid is introduced above or below the piston, the ram 70 will be vertically raised or lowered. I

The machine contains a hinged inner access door 74 which ordinarily opens and closes with the outer access door 46 since the top edge of the inner access door 74 is ordinarily nested under a pair of wings or tabs 76 carried on the interior of the outer access door 46. As such, when the outer access door is swung open, by means of pulling on the handle 48, the inner access door 74 is also swung open. The purpose for the access doors 76 and 74 is, of course, to permit the trash or other refuse materials to be inserted into the machine. As such trash is introduced through the access doors, it descends gravitationally into the lower compartment in the casing. The lower compartment contains a sleeve means generally designated 78, and the details of this sleeve means can be more fully understood by reference to FIG. 4. By referring to FIG. 4, it will be seen that the sleeve means 78 includes a pair of spaced-apart sidewalls 80, a rear wall 82, a bottom wall 84 extending fully under the sleeve means and including a lip 86 projecting forwardly thereof, and a front door 88 attached by hinges 90 to one of the sidewalls 80. The front door 88 includes a central handle 92 by which the same can be opened and includes releasable latch means 94 which ordinarily keep the door in a closed position. As such, it can be seen that the sleeve means 78 provides a rectangular receptacle, open at the top and closed at the bottom, which can readily receive a disposable carton 96 as shown in FIG. 3. The carton 96 can be, and preferably is, a conventional cardboard box and the internal size of the sleeve means can be controlled so that the same tightly accommodates a box of a particular size. When the carton 96 is inserted within the sleeve means, the top flaps of the carton are opened so that the carton is free to receive trash and refuse introduced thereinto through the access doors. As shown in FIG. 3, the backflap of the carton can be held by a spring-loaded latch 98 mounted to the backwall 32 of the casing and similar latches can be provided, if desired, for the side flaps. The front flap can be folded downwardly in the manner shown in FIG. 3.

To understand the operation of the machine as the same has thus far been described, it will be noted from FIG. 1 that electrical power for the machine is supplied through an electrical line 100 which connects with a conventional wall socket 102. When the occupant of the building comes to the machine 20 to dispose of a bag of trash or garbage, he first looks to the instruction plate 38 which initially tells him to turn the switch 40 to a on" position. Then, he opens the outer access door 46, thereby in turn opening the inner access door 74 and he inserts his bag of garbage into the machine. The bag falls gravitationally into the carton 96 which is disposed within the sleeve means 78. Next, the operator pushes the operating handle 44 to a downward position, thus directing fluid through the four-way valve 62 and into the cylinder 64 to cause the ram 70 to lower or descend. The ram 70 thus lowers into the carton within the sleeve means to compact and compress the garbage therewithin. The hydraulic circuit can be provided with a conventional pressure bypass means so that the downward forces of the ram will terminate once the pressure has reached a preselected amount. At any rate, once the garbage has been compressed, the operator then pushes .the handle 44 upwardly thereby raising the ram to its elevated position. Once this position has been reached, the operator can then release the handle 44 which will seek its neutral or home" position, and he can turn the switch 40 to a off position. If desired, in order to act as a safety feature, the on-off button 40 can be of a pushbutton type so that the operator must use one hand to keep the button pushed in while the other hand operates the handle 44. In this manner, the operator cannot possible get his hands into the interior of the machine while the machine is operating.

It has been found that under certain circumstances, an operator who is in a hurry or who does not fully read the instructions, may forget to push the handle 44 in an upward position, thereby raising the ram to its initial elevated position. When this occurs, if no safety means was provided, the next person to use the machine would merely open the access doors and throw the garbage into the machine, and such garbage would land on top of the ram 70. In order to prevent this from happening, a blocking means is provided for the door, and this blocking means is illustrated in FIG. 3. By referring to FIG. 3, it will be seen that the shelf 53 is provided with a slot 104 and a vertically movable panel 106 extends through this slot and rests freely upon the top of the ram 70. The upper edge of the panel 106 is provided with a stop element 108 which is aligned with an enlarged groove portion of the slot 104. On the sides 28 of the casing, adjacent the inner access door 74, a pair of oppositely directed guide members 110 are provided, with such guide members having a vertical guide channel 112 therethrough. Thus, as the ram 70 lowers, in the manner shown in FIG. 3 in dotted lines, the panel 106 will also lower, with its lowering being guided by the channels 112. When the stop portion 108 at the top of the panel engages the top of the guide elements 1 10, then the panel will be in its fully lowered position, even though the ram itself can continue to descend. Thus, at this time, if someone opens the access doors 46 and 74, the panel 106 will be hanging across the interior of such doors to prevent the introduction of trash. The operator will then have to close the access doors and push the handle 44 upwardly to raise the ram to its elevated position, and as the ram raises, it will also raise the blocking panel 106. Thus, when the ram has been fully raised, the doors can again be opened and at this time the trash can be introducedinto the carton since there will be no panel blocking such trash introduction.

It is, of course, understood that the purpose of the sleeve means 78 is to act as a housing for the carton 96 to prevent the same from bursting during compacting and to prevent such carton from being lodged in the machine. It will be seen from FIGS. 3, 5 and 6 that a platform means, in the form of a cement slab or the like, designated 114, is provided at the bottom of the lower compartment within the casing. The sleeve means 78 rests upon this platform means 1 I4 with the bottom wall 84 of the sleeve means resting against the top surface of the platform means. The platform means includes at least one roller 116, positioned near the forward end thereof in contact with the bottom wall 84 of the sleeve means, and the platform means also includes a downwardly inclined forward portion 118, disposed forwardly of the roller 116. When the carton has been completely filled with trash, the janitor or other attendant for the machine releases the latches 36 and opens the casing door 24. Ordinarily, this door is also kept closed by means of a suitable lock to prevent unauthorized persons from opening the machine. At any rate, once the attendant swings the casing door open to the position of FIG. 2, he is able to grasp the handle 92 on the sleeve means and to thus slide the entire sleeve means 78, with the filled carton therein, forporting members, such as the member 98, and when the carton and sleeve means have been pulled out of the machine to the position shown in FIG. '5, the operator uses his foot to kick a pair of swingable or retractable legs 120 at the forward end of the lip 86, to an upright position. These legs 120 can, if desired, be spring biased to a collapsed or retracted position as shown in FIG. 4, but when the operator kicks the same to an upright position as shown in FIG. 5, the weight of the sleeve means and carton will bear down on the legs to keep the same in the upright position. At this time, the operator can close and seal the carton flaps in the manner shown in H0. 5. Then, he releases the latches 94 on the sleeve means and swings the door 88 of the sleeve means open. Finally, he collapses or retracts the legs 120, in the manner shown in FIG. 6, sothat the bottom wall of the sleeve means can swing downwardly, due to the angled configuration of the portion 1 18 on the platform. Due to the tilting, the filled carton readily slides or is slid out of the sleeve means and is either stored or taken away to be burned. The attendant then introduces a new carton into the sleeve means, reeloses the sleeve means and reintroduces the same into the machine. Then, once he closes the casing door 24, the machine is again ready for operation.

After reading the foregoing detailed description, it should be apparent that the objects set forth at the outset of the specification have been successfully achieved by the present invention. However, since the foregoing detailed description was merely directed to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be apparent that various modifications and changes apparent to those skilled in the art may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A machine for compacting trash or the like in disposable cartons comprising a. a casing means having an internal chamber and a door means for providing access to said chamber,

b. said casing means including a transversely extending internal wall dividing said chamber into an upper and a lower compartment,

c. a compacting ram vertically movable within said lower compartment,

d. ram-operating means disposed in said upper compartment and operatively coupled with said ram,

e. manually operable control means operatively connected with said ram operating means,

f. sleeve means disposed within said casing, said sleeve means including a bottom wall,

g. said sleeve means being adapted to receive a disposable carton and to support such carton in an open erected,

position,

h. the sleeve means including spaced-apart sidewalls, a rear wall, a bottom wall extending fully under said sleeve means and a front door hingedly attached to one of the sidewalls,

i. a platform means disposed in the bottom of said casing with said sleeve means resting thereon,

j. roller means positioned near the forward end of said platform means in contact with the bottom wall of said sleeve means to enable said sleeve means and carton to be at least partially removed from said casing when the carton has been filled with compacted trash,

h. said sleeve means door being operable when said sleeve means has been at least partially removed from said casing to thereby enable said filled carton to be removed from said sleeve means,

l. the forward portion of said platform means being inclined downwardly, v I

m. the bottom wall of said sleeve means being extended to provide a lip projecting forwardly thereof, n. retractable legs at the forward end of said lip, said legs troduced through said door means when said ram is in a lower position for compacting the trash already within said carton,

p. a front door in hinged engagement with'the other portion of said casing means,

q. an outer access door within said front door through which trash may be inserted into the disposable carton within said sleeve means,

. an inner access door hingedly engaged with the internal chamber of said casing means, and

. tab means carried on the interior of said outer access door, the inner access door being nested under said tab means, whereby when the outer access door is swung open, the inner access door is also swung open. 

1. A machine for compacting trash or the like in disposable cartons comprising a. a casing means having an internal chamber and a door means for providing access to said chamber, b. said casing means including a transversely extending internal wall dividing said chamber into an upper and a lower compartment, c. a compacting ram vertically movable within said lower compartment, d. ram-operating means disposed in said upper compartment and operatively coupled with said ram, e. manually operable control means operatively connected with said ram operating means, f. sleeve means disposed within said casing, said sleeve means including a bottom wall, g. said sleeve means being adapted to receive a disposable carton and to support such carton in an open erected position, h. the sleeve means including spaced-apart sidewalls, a rear wall, a bottom wall extending fully under said sleeve means and a front door hingedly attached to one of the sidewalls, i. a platform means disposed in the bottom of said casing with said sleeve means resting thereon, j. roller means positioned near the forward end of said platform means in contact with the bottom wall of said sleeve means to enable said sleeve means and carton to be at least partially removed from said casing when the carton has been filled with compacted trash, h. said sleeve means door being operable when said sleeve means has been at least partially removed from said casing to thereby enable said filled carton to be removed from said sleeve means, l. the forward portion of said platform means being inclined downwardly, m. the bottom wall of said sleeve means being extended to provide a lip projecting forwardly thereof, n. retractable legs at the forward end of said lip, said legs being positioned in an upright position when said sleeve means and disposable carton are slid on the downwardly inclined portion of said platform means, to remove the disposable carton from the machine, o. blocking means including a vertically movable panel, the lower terminal of which panel is fixed to, and movable with, said ram, for preventing trash from being introduced through said door means when said ram is in a lower position for compacting the trash already within said carton, p. a front door in hinged engagement with the other portion of said casing means, q. an outer access door within said front door through which trash may be inserted into the disposable carton within said sleeve means, r. an inner access door hingedly engaged with the internal chamber of said casing means, and s. tab means carried on the interior of said outer access door, the inner access door being nested under said tab means, whereby when the outer access door is swung open, the inner access door is also swung open. 